Doppelgangers
by KR Blake
Summary: When Ross and Laura visit Miami for a week long break, they don't expect to meet their doppelgangers, Austin and Ally. They also don't expect to be trapped in Miami by a pack of rabid Ross Lovers. How will they keep on the D.L. for an entire week, while falling for each other at the same time? Austin and Ally will have to help them. But can they, while falling just as fast? HIATUS
1. Doodlegamers In Miami

Chapter one: Doodlegamers In Miami

* * *

Ross had his arm slung lazily over his shorter co-worker's shoulder, like he always did. No one gave them a second glance as they walked through a small mall in Miami on one of their weeks off. Laura, as usual, was looking around, bright eyed and in amazement.

'_Of course,_' Ross mused to himself silently. '_She can never act normal in a new place, can she?_'

"So, where should we go next?" Laura asked, looking up at him. He opened his mouth to answer, but she cut him off quickly with an answer of her own. "I'm getting kind of hungry. Let's go to the food court!"

Ross shook his head at her as she grabbed his hand and began pulling him insistently towards the food court. "Fine!" he said, holding his free hand up in surrender. "Just stop ripping my arm off!"

She shot him a begrudging look and let his hand drop. They started walking again in perfect sync with one another towards the food court.

Had someone been watching them, they would have thought that the two were soul mates; together for sure. But they weren't; they were just best friends. '_The best of friends._' Ross thought decidedly to himself. He looked down to the girl beside him. Sure, she was plenty beautiful. She was probably the smartest person he'd ever met. She had the perfect sense of dry humour that he always loved. She was sarcastic and frank with him. She never lied. When he sucked at something, she wasted no time in telling him so. '_But she's my best friend. My absolute best friend…_'

* * *

Ally sat in a metal chair at the food court, doodling randomness into her songbook as Austin sat across from her, playing Angry Birds on his iPhone. She shook her head at him as he laughed at how the pigs were being demolished by flying, multicolored, bird-shaped pixels. '_He really is a simple man._' She thought warmly to herself. '_Amazed by the smallest of things in life._'

She found herself watching him as he advanced levels startlingly fast. The setting sun was glinting off his blonde hair, making it look more golden than sandy blonde. She couldn't see his eyes through his long lashes, but she knew exactly what colour they were; the richest shade of hazel, with the tiniest hint of green flecks around the pupils.

She ripped her gaze away from Austin, and trained it on the page in front of her. She saw she had scribbled a few lines absentmindedly in the centre of the page. "_Kiss me just once for luck; these are desperate measures now._" **[1]**

She furrowed her dark eyebrows at the lines. '_Why on earth would I write those?_' she thought. She considered erasing them, but some small part of her heart tugged her in the other direction. Instead, she kept the words, but flipped to a new page.

She looked back up at Austin. He was currently fist pumping at the victory of another level. She couldn't help but laugh at how childish he could be at times—in a good way, of course. But at the same time, he was always the perfect man. He was handsome—there was no questioning that—he loved music even more than pancakes, cheerleaders, or LeBron James. He was the funniest person she'd ever met. He never failed to tell her how horribly she danced. He always noticed the small things in life, like the feeling of a new pair of sneakers. He was the sweetest person in the world. He was just the best person she ever wanted to know.

'_He's my best friend._' She found herself in need of that reminder. '_He'll always be my best friend._'

* * *

Laura led Ross excitedly over to the concession stands in the food court. They paid for their meals, and sat down at one of the metal tables. Ross looked around while Laura chattered about how beautiful Miami was and how come she'd never been here before?

For some reason, Ross found his eyes pulled towards one table in particular, a few spaces away. The table was occupied by two people; a guy and a girl, around their age. He thought to himself that there was no way they weren't together. Not by the way the girl's eyes brightened every time the guy looked up to her and smiled, before returning to his game. The way the guy smiled at her screamed that he felt nothing but love for her; it would be literally impossible any other way.

And the way the girl raked her dark eyes over the boy as she doodled in her book. It was like she was spelling the word "_Love_" with her eyes.

And that's when Ross noticed; he knew those eyes. He knew their exact shape. He knew their exact colour, and their exact way of shimmering at the slightest of joy. Only, he knew them on someone else.

Laura.

It was like he was looking into a mirror, if that mirror were wearing a different set of clothing. It was eerie.

"Oh, and by the way, I'm pregnant, and you're the father." Laura chirped across the table from him. "But don't worry, I'm running away with your brother, Riker, so he'll be the father."

"Sounds cool." He said absentmindedly, as he continued to stare at the couple.

She made an annoyed sound, which he didn't notice. "Did you hear, Godzilla just crashed into New York, and he's slowly making his way to Miami? What a horrible world to bring a baby into." She continued.

"You don't say?" he mumbled. The boy looked up at the girl for about the sixth time since he started watching them. They shared a small smile, and returned to what they were doing.

"Are you even listening to me?" Laura snapped at Ross. This he heard. He ripped his eyes from the couple to Laura. She was sitting, her arms crossed over her chest the way she always had them when she was furious. Her dark eyes blazed angrily.

"Nope." He said, popping his 'p'. He smiled at her. She made a furious noise, and pushed up from the table, just a second from leaving. "Wait!" he said hurriedly, holding his hands out to stop her. "Just look over there."

She sat back down reluctantly and followed to where his finger was pointing. The second her eyes reached the couple, her eyes bugged out of her head. "No way!" she exclaimed. "Ross, he looks _exactly_ like you!"

"Are you kidding? That kid looks nothing like me." he scoffed. "I'm _way_ hotter." He flashed a smile at her, which she returned. "But the girl, she's your doodlegamer!"

She raised an eyebrow at him, as if to say '_Really?_' "You mean a _doppelganger_?" she corrected.

"Yeah, whatever." He said. "But she's practically the same person as you!"

"And the guy!" she was getting more and more excited now. "Admittedly, he's got more of a bad boy vibe than you, but you two could be twins!"

Now it was Ross's turn to raise his eyebrow at her. "What do you mean, 'more of a bad boy vibe than me'? You don't even know his name."

Laura looked at him. "I'm a girl. We can just tell these kinds of things."

Suddenly, she pushed out of her chair. "Wait," Ross stopped her just before she started walking away. "Where are you going?"

"To meet my doppelganger." She said, smiling broadly. "Coming with?"

* * *

Ally sat at the table, taping her pencil against the page, groping for something to write. Her focus was ripped away by a young couple, around her age, approaching her and Austin. And when she said 'couple' she meant '_couple_'. Like, there was no way those two weren't _not _together. The way they stayed so close together as they walked told her that in a heartbeat.

She nudged Austin's foot with her own under the table.

"What?" he asked annoyed as he looked up from his game. She flicked her eyes to the couple, who were now only a few feet away. He looked to the two people just as they stopped in front of their table.

"Can we help you?" Ally asked curtly, smiling at them.

"Hi." The girl said just as politely. "I'm Laura. Laura Marano." she held her hand out to Ally, which Ally shook numbly. Ally knew who she was; she always watched her on her show _Dallas & Daisy _**[2]**. "My friend Ross and I were just sitting over there," she pointed to an empty table behind her. "When we noticed, you two look startlingly like us."

"And you're here because…" Austin said. Ally shot him an '_I dare you to finish that sentence. I dare you_' kind of look.

The boy, Ross, as Ally guessed, laughed heartily. "What? We're not allowed to meet our doodlegamers?"

"Doppelgangers." Laura corrected him quickly in an annoyed tone.

"Whatever." He said. She rolled her eyes. "Anyways, we say you two and just wanted to say hi, so," he waved awkwardly. "Hi." He smiled wryly.

"So…" Austin started slowly. "When you say doodlegamers—"

"_Doppelgangers_." Laura snapped. It was apparent she had zero tolerance with torrid grammar. '_I feel you, bro_.' Ally thought to herself. '_Oh god, did I just think/say _bro_? I must be hanging around Austin _way _too much_.'

"Whatever." Austin said. "When you say doppelgangers, you mean…"

"One who walks the earth the same as you." She recounted from memory what a doppelganger was. "Basically, they look exactly like us…"

She surveyed Laura, shocked at what she was seeing. Laura looked _exactly_ like her. Sure, they were wearing different clothes, and their hair was styled differently (Ally's hung loose around her shoulders, while Laura's was tied in a high ponytail). But they were still the same person, just twice.

"Sweet baby Jesus on a pickle." She muttered, staring wide eyed at Laura.

"Yeah," Laura nodded along with Ally. "It hit me like that, too. Do you mind if we sit?"

Ally shook her head, and scooted closer to Austin to make way for the two. They grabbed chairs and sat down at the table across from Austin and Ally. Ally looked to Austin beside her. He was currently having a staring contest with Ross, who she guessed to be Ross Lynch, since he was with Laura Marano.

'_Why I am not surprised?_' she thought, laughing to herself. '_Austin meets his doppelganger, and he gets into a staring contest with him._'

"So what are you two doing here?" Ally turned back to Laura, who was watching amusedly as Austin beat Ross in a staring contest for the second time.

"Oh, we have a week off, so we thought we'd take a little trip to Miami." She said. It was obvious to Ally that she wasn't really paying attention as she watched Ross struggle to keep his eyes open for the third time in a row.

"You know, I had no idea you two were together." Ally remarked. "You've certainly done a bang-up job of hiding it from the press."

At that point Laura looked back to Ally, her eyes slightly panicked. "E-excuse me?" her voice cracked slightly. "We're not together."

Ross, who had forgotten all about his staring contest with Austin, shook his head frantically. "What would make you say something like that?"

"Oh, well, I just figured since, y'know…" Ally gestured madly to the two. As she did, they scooted farther and farther away from each other, both of them blushing profusely.

"Oh, _we're _together? What about you and that one—" Laura started before Austin cut her off with the introduction of his name. "Whatever. Anyways, what about you two? There's no _way_ you two aren't engaged already."

"Um, I think we've already established that what we have is _not_ a love song." Austin said. Ally burst into laughter beside him, clapping him on the shoulder. Ross and Laura just looked at them like, "_Wut da hell?_"

"You had to be there." Austin said through his fits of laughter. He let out one last laugh before draping his arm over Ally's shoulder and pulling her closer to him. Now, to Laura and Ross, who had just met the two, they would have thought that the two were merely in denial of their clearly not platonic relationship. But to anyone who knew Austin and Ally, they would have just said it was how the two rolled. They couldn't help but act like that; they were just too close not to.

But Ross and Laura did not know Austin and Ally. They raised their eyebrows in a suggestive way, which Austin and Ally ignored and moved closer together.

Ally found herself tapping the beat of _Not A Love Song_ with her pencil against the tabletop. When she realized what she was doing, she quickly stopped and laid her pencil down on the metal.

"So, um," she said, trying to spark a new conversation. "Does your band have anything new in the works, Ross?"

Ross's hazel eyes brightened quickly at the mention of his band, R5. "Yeah, actually. We just finished a new song, Cali Girls, and we've been working really hard on a good copy of Take You There." **[3]**

He continued to blather on about his band, while no one really listened and took anything is. Long story short: yes. The only one who seemed interested in what Ross had to say was Laura. By the way she was smiling and nodding along with what he was saying, laughing at all the right times, and shooting out more questions, Ally guessed she was hanging on to his every word.

It was amazing to see the hypocrisy in her. She said there was no way she and Austin weren't together, and yet, she was obviously in love with Ross. And by the way he beamed back at her and smiled when she asked him more questions, he loved her even more.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Austin murmured in Ally's ear after a minute.

"They're total hypocrites?" she murmured back.

"Exactly." He said definitively. She couldn't help but giggle at that. That same giggle caused Laura and Ross to stop their conversation short and look to the two.

"Okay," Laura said, looking at them skeptically. "If you aren't together, then what are you?"

Austin and Ally looked at each other for a moment before replying in unison, "We're partners."

"Isn't that just another way of saying boyfriend and girlfriend?" Ross asked.

"No, we're not _that_ kind of partners." Austin said. "We're music partners. Ally writes the songs, and I sing them. I'm Austin Moon."

At the sound of Austin's full name, Laura's eyes became huge once more. "You are, aren't you?" she said excitedly, before muttering to herself, "I _knew_ he looked like Ross. But Ross just said all the guys want to look like him. I _knew_ it."

"Wait, who's Austin Moon?" Ross cut in.

"Remember, I showed you his music videos online? _Double Take_?" she said. He still didn't remember what she was talking about, and showed her so by a shake of his head. "_They wanna know, know, know your name, name, name. You gotta make, make, make 'em do a double take!_" she suddenly began singing the lyrics to the song, tapping her long fingers against the teable to the beat as she did so.

Ally had to admit; she really was a beautiful singer. Her voice didn't have any of those annoying loops, like so many of today's "singers".

Ross snapped his fingers suddenly. "Now I remember. You totally had a crush on that guy for like a month." He said. Austin raised an eyebrow and smiled suggestively at Laura, who turned a comically deep shade of red.

"I did not." She peeped in a small voice that only made Austin smile more broadly and her blush more deeply.

"No, you definitely did." Ross nodded assuredly. "I remember, you downloaded his song, made it your ringtone, and specifically bent your schedule _around_ the time he was on the Helen show." He couldn't help but laugh as Laura started beating him on the arm. "And wasn't he your screensaver at one point?"

"That's it!" she said, ceasing her relentless blows to his arm. "Natural selection begins now for you, Ross Lynch." Her voice was deadly serious, with a deathly undertone.

Ross's eyes grew wide and scared, and his fingers gripped the arms of his chair tightly.

Suddenly, Ally's phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out, and saw a new text from her father, Lester Dawson. "_Mom's flight gets in tomorrow morning. Is Austin coming to the airport?_" **[4]**

She looked up from her phone to Austin. "My mom's flight is getting in tomorrow morning. Did you want to come to the airport?"

Austin deliberated this for a moment, before answering, "Sure, why not? I've never met an explorer before."

As Ally texted her father back, Ross looked at her interestingly. "Your mom's an explorer?"

"No," she answered without looking up from her phone. "She's an animal doctor, specializing in primates. She's been in the Amazons for the past year researching gorillas. Austin just likes to think she's a second Columbus."

"That's so cool!" Laura exclaimed. "But haven't you missed her?"

Ally looked up from her phone now. Her eyes, usually so strong and piercing, were pained now, like she wanted to cry, almost. "Every day." She said. Her voice sounded slightly garbled. A lump formed in her throat, making it hard for her to speak.

Austin pulled her closer to him in comfort. They were silent for a minute, all four of them staring at different points of the food court. Ally's eyes were trained on the tabletop as she tried not to cry in front of two near strangers. Austin kept his eyes on Ally, waiting for when she would break down and he'd have to comfort her. In truth, though, there was no '_have to_' in it. He really didn't mind comforting her whenever she cried. He just wanted to see her happy again.

Ross, on the other hand, took no notice of his friend. His eyes swept all over the food court, never resting on a single place for more than a second. In the meantime, Laura couldn't help but let her eyes slide in between the two boys in front of her. She found herself captivated by how they looked so similar, yet completely different. They had different airs around them. While her and Ally looked and felt the same both up close and far away, there was an obvious difference when Austin and Ross were close. Austin had a goofy grin on his lips as he watched Ally, and a friendly feel to him. Ross, though, had more of a visible edge to him, and a scowl edging his lips. Though she had said Austin was more of a bad boy; that was a complete and utter lie. Ross was the only bad boy in her sights. Austin was just a big goof.

But no matter how defensive Ross was, Laura felt her eyes always land on him in a softer manner. It ignited an annoyed feeling in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't help but crinkle her nose as the feeling ignited for the fifth time in about a minute. But for once, she wasn't annoyed at him. No, she was annoyed at herself. For what? Who in the name of Odin's beard knew? But she was annoyed at herself, plain and simple.

Suddenly, all four of their thought trails were cut off by a shrill scream on the other side of the food court, followed by an ear-splitting shriek. "_ROOOOSSSS!_"

Ross froze, looking truly terrified. "Oh my god." He breathed. He turned around slowly, along with the others, to see a group of girls charging across the food court like a pack of angry bulls.

All at once, Ross and Laura were out of their chairs, and dragging Austin and Ally out of theirs. "_Run!_" Laura yelled at them. The second the two were up, Ross and Laura were dragging them away from the group of charging girls at top speed.

They pushed and shoved people out of their way as they ran away from the food court.

"Where are we going!" Austin yelled over the shrieks behind them.

An idea suddenly hatched in Ally's beautiful mind at that moment. "_Sonic Boom!_" she yelled to the other three. Ross and Laura looked at her like she had finally lost her mind, but Austin understood immediately. He nodded, and grabbed Laura's hand, and started leading her towards Sonic Boom. Ally grabbed Ross's hand, and followed Austin.

As they neared Sonic Boom, they could hear the group of girls getting closer. Once, one of the girls raked her fingers along Ally's back in an attempt to rip her away from Ross. Ross pulled her closer to him and ran faster, but not before Ally earned herself a sizeable scratch on her shoulder blade. It began to bleed almost immediately, but with the high amounts of adrenaline pumping through her small body, she hardly noticed.

They sprinted through the open doors of Sonic Boom, and Austin and Ross slammed them shut as Ally and Laura collapsed against the counter, gasping for breath. The rabid girls banged on the glass doors and screamed to let them in. Cameras flashed as they took countless pictures.

"What…" Ally said between gasps of air. "Are they…chasing us for?"

"Ross." Laura, who was clearly in better shape than Ally, was already up and stretching, "They're Ross Lovers."

"You've _got_ to be kidding me, right?" Austin said in disbelief. "Even Austies don't act that rabid to get to me."

"That's because I'm way hotter than you." Ross smirked, flexing his muscles, which Laura had to admit, were quite impressive.

"Are you kidding?" Austin raised his eyebrows. "We look exactly the same."

"But on you it doesn't work." Ross reasoned.

"Okay, now is not the time!" Laura cut in angrily. "We have to focus on the problem at hand, which is the fact that they'll never let Ross leave, unless he's willing to sleep with each and every one of them." Ross looked like he was deliberating it, but the look Laura gave him was do deplorable, he quickly sent the plan away without another glance.

"And they won't let Laura leave." Ally agreed. Austin looked at her questioningly, so she elaborated. "They'll think they're together, even if it's just us. Apparently." she shot Laura an evil look, referring to the brunette's earlier comment on how apparently, they acted like they were together. Laura held her hands up in surrender.

"So what?" Ross said. "We're stuck in Miami until they go away?"

"Well, can't you just call someone to come help you?" Austin asked. Ally nodded in agreement.

Ross bit his lip awkwardly. He looked sheepishly to his coworker, who nodded, as if to say, "_go ahead."_

_"_Well, see, the thing is..." he started slowly. "No one knows we're here. We snuck away for a week. Y'know, for a break from everything. So we didn't schedule any flights or anything until the end of the week."

"Okay, so you're stuck in Miami for a week with a pack of rabid fans on your tail, and no one knows you're here?" Austin summed up quickly. The two nodded. "Are you freaking kidding me?"

* * *

**A/Ns:**

**[1]: This is from _Desperate Measures_ by Mariana's Trench.  
[2]: This is my parody of _Austin & Ally_. It's about an up and coming actor who loves to be on stage, and a shy screenwriter with stage fright. They team up and together, take their city of Los Angeles, California by storm!  
[3]: I don't know if this is true. Well, the Cali Girls part is, and I hope the Take You There part is true... *_le sigh_*  
[4]: I read on the A&A wikia page that Ally's mom will be in an episode, and she's a monkey researcher or something. **

* * *

**How was that? Pretty good? Pretty bad? Tell me! This story will consist of Auslly, Raura, and hints of the all new (I think) Rally (Ross/Ally) and Lauraustin (Laura/Austin). Please review with any questions you have, or any constructive criticism! Keep on reading!**

**-KR Blake Ω**


	2. Story Time!

Chapter two: Story Time!

* * *

The four sat in a circle in Ally's practice room, facing each other. Now that they were out of the way of the screaming fans, and their adrenaline levels were back to normal, they sat in silence, pondering what to do next.

"So what do we do for the next week?" Laura asked finally, breaking the awkward silence. She looked to her co-worker to see if he had any good ideas; he was never usually one for amazingly revolutionary ideas, but every now and then he would surprise her with a good plan.

"I'm out." Ross said, stretching out on the floor with his hands behind his head. "Whatever you guys decide, I'm good with it. As long as I don't have to go out to the Ross Lovers."

Laura took a deep breath and lay down beside him. "What we need to focus on right now is finding a place to stay."

"Well…" Ally said slowly. "My dad might be cool with letting Laura stay with us, but there's no way in hell he'd let Ross stay here. He doesn't even let Austin stay the night."

She laughed to herself, remembering the one time she and Austin had pulled an all-nighter, trying to finish a song. Her father had turned into a man of rage, not at all like the happy-go-lucky man he usually was.

"And I could see if Ross could stay with us, as long as you don't mind my sister." Austin said, nearly vomiting at the mention of his deplorable older sister, Aden. Suffice to say, they didn't have the tightest brother/sister relationship.

"Not if she's hot." Ross said in a tone that only Laura knew was a joke. She burst out laughing, while Austin paled, and Ally's face grew into shock and horror.

"Dude, that's my sister!" Austin said defiantly.

"Relax, man, I'm just messing with you." Ross said, waving an arm over his head in dismissal of Austin's compliance.

"Well, how would you feel if I went to California and hit on Rydel, huh?" Austin shot back quickly.

"Go ahead." Ross said in his lax tone that was really starting to annoy Ally. It was like he never cared about anything. "She's hideous." **[1]**

"Oh, I am so telling her you said that." Laura scoffed at Ross's remark. It was obvious he was only teasing his sister, but that being said, she couldn't pass up the opportunity to watch his sister beat the stuffing out of him.

"Then I'm telling Vanessa what you said about her hair yesterday." Ross turned his head and grinned at her. "What was it again? It looked like a goat had gotten drunk and passed out on her head?" **[2]**

"Touché, Lynch." Laura said. "Touché."

* * *

As Laura sat on the Dawson's comfy, overstuffed loveseat, she held the cup of peppermint tea tightly in her hands and looked around the room curiously. Ally sat beside her on the loveseat. While Laura did not entirely mind Ally's arm touching hers, she somewhat wished there was at least an inch between them; she had been freaked out by the fact that Ally was quieter than a ghost when she walked. The fact that they were doppelgangers didn't help the uneasiness in Laura's stomach, either.

Perhaps it was the fact that she was in the house of someone she barely knew. Or maybe it was because Ross was no longer at her side, as he had been every day for the past two years. Whatever it was, the fact still remained that Laura was very nervous.

She refused to look at Ally, or Ally's father, Lester, who sat in the lay-z boy recliner on the other side of the coffee table, watching her. Instead, she entertained herself by making a mental note of everything in Ally's incredibly neat living room.

The walls were painted a warm burgundy colour, matching nicely with the gold skirting. Pictures of a little girl whom Laura assumed was Ally covered the walls everywhere. The photos ranged from when she was about one or two to present day. The most recent looking photo was of her and Austin sitting at the glossy black grand piano Laura had seen in the lobby of Sonic Boom. The way they sat didn't look anything like the Austin and Ally Laura knew; these two were definitely friends and nothing more. Their shoulders touched, but just barely. There was a visible gap between them as they sat on the bench—one that Laura hadn't seen between them all day. There were no stolen glances shared between them, no hidden smiles, and no incessant need to be touching.

Which made Laura wonder; what happened between then and now?

"So how long will you be in Miami?" Lester asked, breaking the awkward silence floating around them.

"Just a week." Laura replied quietly. "Then Ross and I have to go back to California." She took another sip of her peppermint tea, smiling at the familiar aroma. It made her remember of her childhood, when she was six and sitting at her grandmother's kitchen table, playing crazy eights and drinking peppermint tea every day that summer. Her grandmother had died the very last day of that summer. Laura herself had been the last person to see her before she died; she had left her grandmother's house about an hour beforehand.

Lester nodded, and snapped her out of her flashback by saying, "Well, I think I can speak for my wife as well when I say you are welcome to stay with us." He smiled warmly in a goofy way that was identical to his daughter's smile.

'_It would seem Ally and I are not the only doppelgangers in this house…_' she thought, laughing to herself. She had made a funny.

* * *

Ross sat casually on Austin's couch, smiling happily at Austin and his mother. As he looked around the room, he grew less and less excited to be here, though. Cheesy back and white pictures of naked babies hung in a visible pattern over the stone fireplace. The painted blue walls were lined with shelves full of corny knickknacks badly in need of a good dusting. Ross really didn't understand how someone as seemingly cool as Austin could be a product of such a frilly household.

He fingered a hole in his ripped jeans awkwardly, his gaze falling to his knees. He cleared his throat and said, "So, um, are you and your husband okay with letting me stay here for a week?"

Ross noticed Mrs. Moon's hands tighten on her skirt hem, before releasing it. "Um, yes," she said in a tiny, squeaking voice. "You're welcome to stay with us, Ross." She looked up at him now, meeting his gaze with her startling blue eyes. "It'll be nice to have another boy in the house." She smiled crookedly and unconvincingly. "You can sleep in Austin's room, if that's alright with you."

Ross nodded. "It's perfect. Thanks."

Ω

That night, Ross lay on his sleeping bag in a pair of Austin's borrowed sweat pants and no shirt, watching the ceiling. Austin was quiet on his bed, his slow breathing filling the room. He wasn't asleep, though.

"So what's up with you and Ally?" Ross stage whispered to Austin. He heard the shifting of a body in sheets, and Austin let out a deep breath.

"Nothing." He whispered back. But he didn't sound confident.

"Really?" Ross asked in disbelief. "Cause it seems like she doesn't mind your company."

Sheets shifted again, and Ross saw Austin lift his head off his pillow a centimetre and look down at him. "Seriously?"

"Gotcha." Ross smiled deviously.

Austin flopped back on his bed, letting his arms hang over the sides. "Fine. There was…this one time." He started slowly. "And I—I thought _maybe_, but then I told myself that I was crazy; that Ally would never go for a guy like me."

"Ooh, is it Austin Story Time?" Ross joked, sitting up on his sleeping bag. Austin sat up as well, blushing. He was glad Ross couldn't see the blush through the darkness of midnight, but on some level, Ross probably knew.

"Well, it was a couple of months ago. See, Ally used to like this guy, Dallas…

* * *

Laura lay on her back, above the covers of her borrowed guest bed. Her arms and legs were splayed out on the bed, taking up as much room as possible. She should have been fast asleep by now; this was the position she loved to sleep in the most. But thoughts of the day kept relaying through her mind.

Suddenly, a soft knock at her door made her sit up abruptly. Ally poked her head into the guest bedroom, looking as shy and resigned as she had in the living room.

"Were you asleep?" she whispered. Laura shook her head. Ally stepped into the room, her feet not betraying her even a squeak on the carpeted floors, and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Couldn't sleep, either?" Laura asked. Ally shook her head absentmindedly.

"I just keep thinking about my mom." She murmured barely audibly. She traced her thin finger along one of the embroidered ivy vines on the quilt of the guest bed. She smiled at the familiar pattern; her mother had embroidered this quilt herself, when Ally was seven. She could still remember pricking her tiny fingers over and over again on needles trying to help her mom. "I mean… it's been a year. I was thirteen when she left. She's never even met Austin. What if she doesn't like him?"

Ally refused to meet Laura's eye as she spoke in coarse whispers. She kept her eyes on the interlocking ivy vines of the quilt. Laura stayed quiet for a moment, trying to think of what to say.

"Why wouldn't she like Austin?" she finally asked. Ally shrugged, causing Laura to roll her eyes. "Look—_look_." She snapped forcefully when Ally didn't meet her eyes. When she finally did, Laura continued. "If you like him, then your mom will like him. Parents are like that."

"I know." Ally nodded. "But still, she's never met a guy before."

"Well, I don't see how it's any different than meeting a friend." Laura shrugged. In the dim moonlight seeping in through the cracks in the curtains, she could just see Ally's cheeks redden a bit. "Right?"

Ally murmured something too low for Laura to hear, and let her eyes fall to the ivy vines again. They soothed her somehow. She cleared her throat and repeated, "Y-yeah. I don't know what I was thinking."

Now, Laura has always hated when people lie—especially to her—and over the years, as per means of survival, had developed a sense of when she was being lied to. And right then, her sixth sense of a lie detector was flashing like crazy in the back of her mind. She raised an eyebrow accusingly at the other girl, and gave her her best look of doubt. "You're lying." She said flatly.

"I am n-ot." Ally defended, but not very well, as her voice fell in the middle of the word '_not_'.

"No, you so are." Laura pointed an accusing finger at her. "Come on, spit it out. What is up with you and Austin? You like him, don't you?"

Ally would have answered, but her deep blush did that for her. "I—maybe. I don't know." She leaned back on the bed, running her hands through her dark hair as she watched the ceiling fan spin around and around on a mesmerizing loop. "There was this one time when I thought…_maybe_." She whispered. "But why would a guy like him go for someone as nerdy as me?"

"Stranger things have happened." Laura said, lying down on the bed beside Ally. "Now come on, spit."

"Fine." Ally's voice would have been impossible to hear had Laura been even an inch farther away. "I—it happened a couple of months ago. There used to be this guy I liked, Dallas…

* * *

When Lester Dawson knocked on Laura's door the next morning as to wake her up, he wasn't expecting to hear the soft snoring he had become so used to hearing over the past fifteen years. He found it odd to think that his daughter's doppelganger would also have his daughter's sinuses—he certainly didn't recall his wife having twins.

But when he pushed the door open, he found his answer. Laura was splayed out in a wide star formation, fast asleep, while Ally was curled up in a tiny ball on the carpet, just as asleep. He let himself smile at the sight for a moment. When she was sleeping, she looked so much like her mother. They suddenly had the same timeless face that made you stop and stare. It was much better than the constant worried look she usually wore—he knew she'd never had an easy time with bullies at school. With her mother being absent for a year, she had to grow up in just 365 short days.

Now that's not to say he'd never see the old Ally again. He had seen it a couple of times when she was with Austin, and they sat at the piano, or hung out by the guitar display down at Sonic Boom. That blonde had been able to pull out the real Ally on several occasions—and for that, he couldn't thank Austin enough.

He smiled for a second more before nudging his daughter with his foot. She groaned and blinked up at him.

"Come on, kiddo." He said. "We don't want to be late to the airport, or your mother will have my hide."

She nodded and pushed up from the ground slowly. He turned to the other girl lying on the bed to wake her up, only to see she was already stretching, sitting up on her bed. She gave him a curt nod, and followed him with her eyes as he walked out of the room.

* * *

"Hey, come on, dude, wake up." Austin shoved Ross in his sleeping bag for the fifth time. When he still didn't wake up, Austin grasped the edges of the sleeping bag tightly, and yanked upward, throwing Ross off it. Ross toppled over onto the floor, now fully awake and fully aggravated.

"_Dude!_" he yelled in compliance, standing up and brushing lint off his pajama pants.

"Sorry, but we gotta get ready now if we wanna make it to the airport on time." Austin dropped the sleeping bag and threw a change of clothes at Ross.

"Oh yeah, I forgot we're picking up your girlfriend's mom today." He said with a wry smile, knowing full well how much it would bug Austin. He slipped the white and gray striped polo shirt over his head.

"She's not my girlfriend." Austin mumbled, blushing deeply. He cursed himself silently for ever telling Ross that stupid story about him and Ally. He should have just made up a completely bogus story involving a penguin and a taco truck, and Ross would have been happy.

Ross smirked as he pulled into the plain jeans Austin had given him and followed him out the bedroom door, down to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Mrs. Moon—Mimi—was busy bustling around, cooking up a storm of bacon and eggs. At the kitchen table sat a tall girl with blondish brown hair, a deep, surfer girl tan, and a maniacal, flitting gaze that swept over Ross quickly.

"Ross, this is my sister, Aden." Austin quickly waved to the classic Florida girl and sat down at the table. "Aden, this is my… friend, Ross. He's gonna be staying with us this week, so no, you can't sleep with him."

"Wretched boy." Mimi scowled at her son and smacked him upside the head as she walked past with a frying pan full of crisp bacon. Austin just laughed and grabbed a fistful of bacon.

Ross sat down carefully in between Austin and Aden, and began eating his own fistful of bacon. He surveyed the two closely as he ate. It was eerie how different they looked. Austin had sharp features, while Aden had soft cheekbones and a rounded chin. Austin had hazel and green eyes, while his sister had dark brown eyes—darker than even Laura's eyes.

It was at that moment that he remembered he'd be seeing Laura again. He had felt so weird last night when he didn't get to say good night to her, or even fall asleep beside her, as they seemed to be doing more and more often. It had felt weird this morning not to wake up to her singsong voice in his ear, yelling at him that he'd be late _again_ if he didn't wake up soon.

He couldn't help the little bits of fluttering in his stomach as he thought about his co-worker. Austin's voice played through his mind from the night before. '_There was…this one time and I—I thought maybe, but then I told myself that I was crazy; that she would never go for a guy like me._'

Ω

At ten to ten on the dot, the doorbell rang all through the Moon household. Austin nodded to Ross, indicating it was the girls, and waved bye to his mom as they walked to the door. Ross pulled open the door, and was immediately tackled by one of the small brunettes. He knew without asking which one it was—Laura. He could tell by her feel and familiar scent; old books and lavender. Two scents that shouldn't work together, but did.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her and lifted her off the ground in a bear hug. She giggled a bit, smiling drunkenly as he set her down again. Since they met, not a day had gone by that they didn't hug—it was just something they did. They were huggers.

"Ready?" Austin asked the other brunette who stood back, just off the steps of Austin's front porch. Ally nodded enthusiastically. He smiled at her, and followed Ross and Laura out of the house, shutting the door behind him. They loaded themselves into Ally's dad's van, and the five (including Lester) set off for MIA—Miami International Airport.

"So who are we meeting?" Ross asked from the backseat, beside Laura and behind Austin.

"My mom, Penny." Ally answered from the front seat. She bounced happily at that; no matter how much she loved her dad, no one could replace her mother.

"Your future mother in law." Ross whispered tauntingly to Austin in front of him, too low for Ally to hear, but _just_ loud enough for both Austin and Laura to hear. Austin's cheeks turned bright pink, while Laura stared at the boy beside her, wide eyed.

"Excuse me?" she asked, her voice cracking slightly.

"Ignore him." He grumbled. "He's just upset you're out of his league."

Now it was Ross's turn to receive a questioning stare from the brunette, which he pointedly ignored and took to watching Miami zip by outside the window.

* * *

As all of this was happening, Ally sat in the front, completely oblivious. She looked out the window beside her, reading each sign and license plate as they passed. It was enough to keep her entertained, but not nearly enough to keep her mind from drifting to the last time she had seen her mother. She had been thirteen, about three inches shorter, and a hell of a lot less coordinated. Granted at fifteen, she was horribly uncoordinated, but at thirteen, she was even more so.

She had had only one friend then; her best friend since kindergarten, Trish, and absolutely no hope of ever making it in the music business. But now she had Austin, Dez, and—as it would seem—Ross and Laura. And then there were the librarians and the teachers at her high school, but that's beside the point.

It seemed like all of Miami was singing _her_ songs on a daily basis. She had an actual shot at becoming everything she'd always wanted to be, and not just a painstaking dream of what could be. She would no longer nearly burst into tears whenever she thought about her Achilles heel—her stage fright, and the fact that because of it, she could never be all that she wanted to. She had Austin now, and he was enough to help her through the tears and trails of the music business.

"Ready to see your mother?" her dad murmured to her across the console. She blinked, startled, and looked out the window. They were already in the parking lot of MIA. She had been out of it longer than she thought.

She turned to her dad and smiled, nodding. "I'm ready." She unbuckled her seat belt and slid out of the van to stand beside Austin.

"Let's do this." She muttered to herself. Austin smiled down at her and grabbed her by the hand. She couldn't help the butterflies in her stomach—but not from Austin. From the fact that she was about to see her mother again for the first time in 365 days. And yeah, she was nervous.

* * *

**A/Ns:**

**[1]: I'm just kidding about this. Rydel is actually really pretty. But you know how people are about their siblings.  
[2]: Again, I'm just kidding. Vanessa's really pretty, too. **

**So what did you guys think? Like it? Tell me! Hate it? Tell me! Questions? Ask me; I love answering them!**

**Notes!**

**-**CatchMeIfIFall:** sweet baby Jesus on a pickle, I love you. Now that I have looked up the word "eloquent" thank you! I totally get what you mean, and yes, you are completely forgiven (I don't usually hold grudges unless I know you). THANK YOU!  
-**The Anon who stated their favourite parts:** No, you are most certainly not annoying! No, he wouldn't have actually done that, but I think I'm going to make Ross KIND of like "that guy" that's pretty much completely vain and up on his high horse (I just love writing about those guys! They have the BEST comebacks!) Thanks!**

**Thank you guys! Keep on reading, and review! Review! Review!**

**KR Blake Ω**


	3. Texts From The Devil And His Sister

Chapter three: Texts From The Devil-And His Sister

* * *

Ally twiddled her thumbs nervously as she stood on her tip toes trying to see over the sea of heads at MIA. Brilliant hues of black, brown, red, and blonde shone in the sunlight seeping through the giant sunroof, but not the shade she was looking for.

"See her?" Austin asked. She glanced back at him and shook her head begrudgingly. She turned back to the heads.

'_Where is she?_' Ally thought to herself agitatedly. There was a certain uneasiness in her stomach that she didn't like. She didn't like it at all.

She continued to search for a few more minutes, before she saw it. Just the right richness of chocolate hair, piled neatly in a wavy ponytail. She'd know that hair anywhere. Her heart leapt into her throat. Before she could think, she charged. Elbowing through the crowds of protesting travellers, she sprinted to her mother.

Finally, she pushed on last person out of her way, and tackled her mother into a bear hug. Penny Dawson's arms wrapped around her daughters tightly, dropping her luggage in the middle of the airport. Ally buried her face in her mother's shoulder, tears prickling in her eyes as she breathed in her mother's welcoming scent of lemons.

"Mom." She muttered into her mother's shoulder.

"I missed you, too, Ally-gator." Penny said into Ally's hair, sounding like she was trying to keep down tears.

Suddenly, another pair of arms wrapped around them. Ally lifted her head up slightly to see her father hugging the both of them. He kissed his wife's forehead lightly and rested his chin on the top of her chocolate hair. Ally closed her eyes and burrowed her head deeper into Penny's shoulder, smiling. Her family was finally back together.

* * *

Austin stood a few steps away from the Dawsons, smiling with his hands dug into his jeans. It was so heartwarming to watch them hug each other. It was the first time he had ever seen Ally's dad even close to tears. But as he kissed his wife's forehead and hugged her and Ally tightly, he seemed to have let go of all previously held machoness.

As it was heartwarming, it also made Austin miss his family—even Aden. His dad especially. Of course, he'd never stop missing his dad…

Ally let go of her mother and turned to Austin.

"Mom," she looked back to her mom. "This is Austin. My best friend." She beamed at her mother, then back at Austin.

Penny looked between her daughter and Austin, smiling. It was a kind of secretive, suggesting smile that the two, of course, didn't notice. Penny knew exactly what was going on between the two fifteen year olds, even if they didn't know themselves.

Ally was too engrossed with running her eyes all over her mother, memorizing every last detail of the woman. From her timeless pale face, to her luxuriously rich brown eyes, to her plump, pinkish lips, and right down to her long, thin fingers, stained with black sharpie ink. Ally couldn't get enough of this sight; it was one she had seen every day since she was born.

"So this is the famous Columbus Dawson." Ross said laid back behind Austin. He turned around to see the two waiting for him and the Dawsons. Both of them wore dark sunglasses and Miami Dolphins football caps pulled down low over their eyes. Though they didn't look exactly like Austin and Ally anymore, there was still a visible resemblance to the four.

"Right, mom," Ally said, pointing to Ross. "This is Austin and mine's…friends, Ross," then she pointed to Laura. "And Laura."

Laura, the social butterfly that she was, tilted her Dolphins cap up a bit so Penny could see her smile without disclosure. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Dawson." She said warmly, holding out her hand to shake the woman's. Ross stiffened beside Laura, hoping in desperation that she wouldn't be recognized.

Thankfully, luck was on their side that day. Penny just nodded and shook Laura's hand, followed by Ross's. "Are you two both Dolphins fans?" she asked.

"Actually, I'm more of a 49ers fan." Ross said. Penny raised an eyebrow.

"A Frisco man, are we?" she asked lightly.

"Yes, ma'am." He nodded graciously.

"Well then what are you doing all the way out here in Miami?" she asked as she looped an arm around her daughters waist and their group began the procession to the exit doors.

Laura froze in her place. Ross, too, looked momentarily discerned before he blinked that fear away from his hazel eyes and said, "Oh you know, catching up with old friends over summer break." With a shrug as he continued on casually. Laura sighed in relief inwardly and fell into pace beside her co-worker, and behind the Dawson family plus one.

"That was too close." She breathed to him under her breath, too low for anyone but him to hear in the bustling crowd.

"I know." He whispered back. "Sorry. But from now on, we are wallpaper, got it?"

"Sounds like a plan." She nodded. "How many more days?"

"Six." He said definitively.

"I wonder what they're doing back home…" she wondered aloud.

* * *

Riker lay sprawled out on his bed, still asleep, though it was eleven o'clock in the morning. In fact, the whole Lynch household was quiet—they'd never been a family of early risers.

Suddenly, Riker was jolted awake by ravenous pounding on the front door. He groaned and turned over on his warm bed, burying his head deeper into his soft pillow.

But the pounding on the door continued. Finally, after another minute, he groaned and dragged himself out of bed. Rubbing his frazzled blonde hair, he walked out of his room and down the hall to the front door. His siblings were also dragging themselves out of bed at such an early hour, and following him to the front door. Riker was too tired for this. He was even too tired to make fun of his sister's insane bedhead.

He pulled open the front door and blinked blearily at the woman standing on the front steps of their home, fuming. It took him a moment to recognize her as Caroline—Laura's mom.

"Hey Caroline," he said casually. "Sup?"

She narrowed her big eyes, identical to her daughter's, and pushed past Riker into their house. "No please, come in." Riker mumbled, too low for Laura's mother to hear, but not too low to earn a snigger from Rocky beside him.

"Sup?" Caroline repeated furiously. "I'll tell you what's _sup_." She put air quotations over the last word, her eyes flicking dangerously over the four Lynch children gathered in their front hall. "My _daughter_ has run off with your brother. Care to explain?" she planted her hands firmly on her hips and looking over the four siblings expectantly.

Rydel took a head count of her family. Riker, Rocky, herself, and Ryland in the corner, half asleep and leaning against the wall.

No Ross.

She swore mentally at her younger brother and looked to Caroline. "Okay, so Ross isn't here. What makes you think they ran off together?"

Caroline crossed the front hall and stood in front of Rydel, her arms crossed, and glaring at the girl deathly. She held up a small slip of paper with slanted writing on it and waved it in front of Rydel's face. Rydel plucked the piece of paper from in between Caroline's tiny fingers and read.

_Gone with Ross for a week getaway. Be back on the 27__th__.  
Love you,  
Laura XOXO_

Riker walked beside his sister and read the note over her shoulder. When he was done, he smiled wickedly at his brothers and waved them over to read the note. Once all of the Lynch siblings had finished, they regarded each other happily, and began hooting laughter.

"You guys _so_ owe me twenty bucks!" Riker called to his siblings, holding his stomach as he laughed. They didn't even argue as they each pulled out a twenty dollar bill and handed it over to Riker, declaring him the winner of their family bet of when Ross and Laura would get together. Riker slipped the bills into his own pocket and read the note over again, wiping a tear forming in his eye.

Caroline looked at the teens like they had just murdered her puppy. "What the _hell_ is wrong with this family?" she asked, appalled.

Rydel was the first to stop laughing. She cleared her throat and said politely, "Sorry, Caroline. We've just been waiting for this."

"For your juvenile delinquent brother to abduct my daughter?" she shrieked.

"No, for them to get together." She said. Caroline blinked at her, confused. "Y'know, to start dating?"

Caroline looked to each of the teens with even more scorn for the next than the last. "Why would my daughter want to date one of _you_?"

Ryland, who had stayed silent—even while laughing—was the first to speak up. "Oh come on, you can't be that thick, can you?" he said. She flashed him a dangerous look, but he continued. "There's no way you could have missed them crushing on each other for like the last year."

The stout woman looked like she wanted to argue with the fifteen-year old, but she settled for an irritated growl and stormed out of the sill-open door, slamming it behind her.

"What was that?" a voice said from the top of the stairs. All four of the Lynch siblings turned to see their mother standing at the balcony of the second level, leaning over the banister and blinking blearily at her children.

Rydel, who was probably the most responsible of the kids in these kinds of situations, cleared her throat. "It would seem Ross and Laura ran off for a week somewhere."

Stormie looked shocked—but only for a minute before she surveyed her children. "Who had July?"

Riker raised his hand happily, proclaiming, "Me!"

She smiled proudly at her eldest son. "Good boy."

* * *

"I don't know." Ross said absentmindedly. For a second, he felt a pang of longing as he thought about his family. He kind of missed their constant presence and their good natured bickering.

Laura let out a sigh and leaned against his shoulder and wrapped his arm around her. As he did this, though, his heart tugged with an all new sense of longing. The longing to be even closer to the girl. He had an overwhelming urge to never be her friend again—to be more. As he looked down at her sadly, he couldn't help but catch sight of her lips. They were as pink and plump as they always were, but this time, they looked different. They looked glossier and more enticing than they had even yesterday; when he was reminding himself that she was his best friend.

That reminder sobered him up quickly. He turned away from Laura, but he couldn't help squeezing her arm lightly, just in affirmation that she was really there. He would hate to think what would happen if he ever lost her. Ever.

* * *

Penny glanced back at Ross and Laura trailing behind them, and just caught the tail end of Ross staring at Laura's lips hungrily. She smiled to herself knowingly.

'_Two for two today._' She thought to herself wryly. She looked down at her own daughter and said heartily, "So what's with the lovebirds back there?"

"Don't even ask." Ally shook her head dismissively, glancing back at them. Ross had sobered up and was looking away from Laura by then, but now it was her turn to stare at him sadly. The look in her eyes told Ally everything she needed to know about Laura—she wanted what she couldn't have.

Metaphorically, of course. Laura was free to make a move on Ross any time she wanted—and God knew he wouldn't object—but she was scared. She was scared of losing her best friend. She was scared of losing her second family; the Lynches. She was scared of how much her heart could be broken by one single blonde headed boy.

Falling in love with your best friend is like bungee jumping in that sense. One fall risks you losing everything. But at the same time, you could win even more.

* * *

Once back at the car, Penny climbed into the passenger's seat beside Lester, Ally and Austin took the middle seats beside each other, and Ross and Laura took the back seats. When the door was closed firmly, Ross took off his Dolphins cap and sunglasses and blinked in the sunlight. Laura followed suit, smiling in the patches of warm sun that hit her through the window.

"So how were the Amazons?" Ally asked her mother. Penny looked at her through the rear view mirror, smiling.

"The most beautiful place you'll ever see." She said.

"Even more beautiful than Machu Picchu?" Austin asked. Penny looked at him, alarmed for a moment before she figured Ally had told him all about her adventures to Peru some three years earlier.

"Yes, they beat even Machu Picchu." She said nodding. "Don't get me wrong—there's a reason Machu Picchu is a wonder of the world. But there is just something about the rugged, untouched beauty of the Amazons that… you really just have to see to believe." Her voice was wistful as she spoke of the outside world in all its glory. Ally clung onto her every word, making little notes and sketches of the places her mother described in her songbook occasionally. She actually wasn't a bad sketch artist, but music was really her forte.

Ross quickly checked out as Mrs. Dawson went on and on about the villages she went through with her university department, and all the different species of monkeys she studied. Instead, he entertained himself by scrolling through his phone. Recent searches, new records on Temple Run, missed texts. Nothing in particular.

Austin in front of him had checked out on Mrs. Dawson's drabbles as well. Of course, he, being friends with Ally for such a long time, was much better at hiding his boredom. He rested his chin on his hand and watched Ally and Penny converse excitably. He noticed as he watched them that Penny hadn't let go of her husband's hand since they left the airport.

He couldn't help but smile at that; that kind of everlasting love would always have a special hold over him.

Laura smiled at their intertwined hands for a second as well before she pulled out her phone. To entertain her, she texted the first person that came to her mind—her oldest girlfriend.

_**To: Rydel**_

_Hey._

In two seconds flat, her phone beeped with a response.

_**From: Rydel**_

_Heeyyy! :) Where are you guys?_

_**To: Rydel**_

_You found my note. _

_**From: Rydel**_

_No, actually. Your mom found it and woke us all up early this morning to scream at us for Ross 'abducting' you (her words, not mine, I swear). _

_**To: Rydel**_

_Sorry about that :) But there is no way in hell I'm telling you where we are. _

_**From: Rydel**_

_Come on, just a hint?_

_**To: Rydel**_

_Well… we're definitely not in Cali anymore. _

_**From: Rydel**_

_DUDE! What are you doing out of the state with my little brother?_

_**To: Rydel**_

_Not much. Just in the back of some family's van :)_

_**From: Rydel**_

_OH MY GOD YOU ARE COMPLETELY INSANE! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH MY BABY BROTHER?_

_**To: Rydel**_

_NO NO NO NO NO!_

_**From: Rydel **_

_Well, thanks for the heart attack, L. _

_**To: Rydel**_

_No problem, Ry! _

She slid her phone shut, grinning at the screen as it faded into black. She slid it into her shorts pocket and looked over to Ross.

"Who were you texting?" he asked.

"Oh no one." She said casually. "Just FYI, you _may_ have some questions to answer when you get back." She smiled wickedly at him, her eyes gleaming with a light that made him uneasy.

"I don't even want to know." He said, shaking his head at her. She giggled and leaned her head against his shoulder. He couldn't help but feel his heart fluttering as he wrapped an arm around her and kissed the top of her head lightly. Admittedly, this was not the first time he'd ever done that, but this time was different. He felt nervous as he kissed her.

"No, you really don't." she said simply, closing her eyes and smiling slightly—out of his sight, of course—as he kissed her head.

* * *

Ally sat at the piano bench of her rickety old piano that afternoon, fiddling with the keys, searching for some kind of muse. For some reason, she found herself playing the notes to_ You Don't See Me_. She smiled, her hands freezing atop the keys for a moment, before she continued to play and sing the words.

"_I'm the girl in the corner of the room;  
The one you never notice.  
Getting lost among the stars in the sky,  
Like a picture out of focus. _

_I'm the sun in your eyes,  
Yet, you don't see me.  
I wear no disguise,  
But you don't see me.  
I'm a total surprise,  
And you don't see me.  
I'm so agonized  
That you don't see me.  
You don't see me. _

_You don't see me._"

She let her hands slide from the piano keys and smiled proudly at the song. It was easily one of her best.

"Amazing." A silky voice said behind her. Ally froze and turned around slowly. Her mother leaned against the door frame to the practice room, smiling widely as she surveyed the room. "Of course, you always did have a gift when it came to music."

Ally bowed her head, blushing. "Thanks, mom." She said.

"It's just the truth." The woman shrugged, taking one last look around the brilliantly painted room. "So how come I've never been in this room before?"

"Because this used to be my old practice room." Ally said matter-of-factly. "Austin revamped it for me just after I met him."

Penny nodded, walking over and sat down on the piano bench beside her daughter. "It doesn't seem like the only thing he's done for you." She smiled knowingly. Ally just blinked at her, confused.

"Pardon?" she asked. Penny raised a petty eyebrow.

"Come on, Ally. Mama didn't raise no fool." She said flatly. Ally looked at her mother like the woman had just said her new half-brother was a monkey. "It is so obvious he likes you."

"Okay, what did they do to you in the Amazons?" Ally asked, turning back to the piano and placing her hands on the keys, soaking in their strength as she began to blush well past profusely.

"I'm serious!" her mother laughed at her reaction. "The way he avoids contact, thrusts out his chest in front of you? It's a _classic_ case of the lowland gorilla love bug." She made a little check-mark in the air, as if to say, "_Check and mate, missy. I win the arguments around here_."

"Well, in case you didn't notice," Ally stood from the piano abruptly, walked over to the fridge, and pulled out a water bottle, cracking it open. "Austin isn't a lowland gorilla." She looked at the woman pointedly.

"No, but evolution _does_ dictate that we come from monkeys." Penny pointed out.

"Yeah, _chimpanzees_, not lowland gorillas." Ally argued, taking a sip of her water. Her mother gave her one of her famous "_You've got to be kidding me, right?_" looks. "Mom, Austin and I don't like each other—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Penny cut her off promptly. "Who said anything about _your_ liking _him_?" Ally, who had been taking another swig of her water then, choked and sputtered on her water, spraying the clear liquid all over the floor, coughing madly.

She patted her sternum, trying to force the water out of her lungs. In the process, her water bottle fell to the ground, creating a large puddle in no time at all. "Why—*_cough_*-would you-*_cough_* think that-*_cough_*?"

"Because you said it." Her mother replied, bemused at Ally's abrupt and admittedly hilarious reactions.

"I-*_cough_* did no-*_cough_*." She sputtered. Her face was slowly turning red, and by the time she managed to strangle her coughs down to a slight hiccough, she was beet red. And not just from coughing.

Penny just raised an eyebrow. "Ally, you've got to be kidding me, right?"

"What?" she asked coyly.

"Look, baby." Her mother walked over to her and placed a tentative hand on her arm. "I know I haven't been around for a while, but if you ever want to talk, I'm here. You know that, right?"

Ally studied her mother's beautiful face. Her eyes were dark—a little bit lighter than her daughter's, but still plenty dark—and full of concern. In fact, concern was all over the woman's face as she watched Ally.

Ally nodded. "I know mom." She said in a small peep. "I know."

* * *

As Austin lay on his bed that night, he played images in his mind over and over. He had been trying to lull himself to sleep for the past hour, but to no avail. He could hear Ross's steady breathing on the ground beside his bed, telling him the blonde bad-boy was asleep—and had been for the past twenty minutes.

As he thought deeply, something snapped him out of it. A soft beeping. Austin turned over on his bed and looked on the ground. Ross's phone lay beside the sprawled out boy, blinking with a new message. Austin picked up the phone and called up the new text, which he saw, was from Laura.

_**From: Laura**_

_Miss you –L _

A devious plan hatched in Austin's mind. He smiled wickedly and keyed in a message. He reviewed the words for a minute, and hit send. Yeah, he'd probably get his ass kicked when he woke up, but at least he'd get a good laugh out of it.

He put the phone back down beside Ross and turned over on his bed. He closed his eyes, and was asleep in a matter of seconds.

* * *

Laura sat bolt upright in her bed, wide-eyed as she stared at the phone in her hand. "_Ally!_" she hissed at the girl lying on the floor in a tangle of her blankets, probably already asleep. Slowly, Ally lifted her head from the blankets and blinked blearily at her doppelganger.

"What?" she hissed sharply.

"Read it." Laura shoved her phone down into Ally's hands. As Ally read the few words, her mouth dropped open.

_**From: Ross**_

_Miss you, too, L. Wish you were with me. You always make my heart beat in a wicked kind of way ;)_

* * *

__**So as you guys can guess, R5 will be making some guest appearances in this story. And see how Laura reacts to Austin's text-and more importantly, how Ross will react. Stay tuned! **

**-KR Blake Ω**


	4. To Act, or Not To Act

Chapter four: To Act, or Not To Act

* * *

"W-what do you think it means?" Ally whispered frantically, now fully awake. Romanticism often had this effect on her—this somewhat of a caffeine rush.

"I…" Laura started, shaking her head. She sat there, groping for words, only to find that there _were_ none to say what she truthfully thought. Which was something along the lines of "_Oh God oh God oh God oh God oh God oh God!_"

Ally, noticing this longer-than-momentary pause, snatched the flip phone out of Laura's dainty hands and keyed in a response (though it took a few seconds longer than hoped, considering Ally was not used to the T9 keyboard).

"_What are you doing!?_" Laura whisper-shouted at Ally as she hit send with a self-accomplished nod. Ally snapped the phone shut and handed it back to her doppelganger calmly, smiling a ghost of a smile.

"Getting a kick start on your love life."

* * *

Ross woke up groggily the next morning to a beeping from his iPhone, telling him he had a new text. He blinked, groaning, and rolled over on his makeshift bed, consisting of a folded comforter, and grabbed his iPhone blindly. He hated mornings, and he _especially_ hated being woken up in them.

He opened the missed text.

From: Laura

_Miss you too, babe *heart*__I know what you mean x1000 Meet me in front of Sonic Boom at 11? _

His mouth ran dry. He stared at the screen, dumbfounded. He checked the sender again, just to make sure he had read properly. But it still read _Laura_. He checked the number again. _495-334-3748_. Still the number to Laura's old, outdated flip phone. He read the text over. Had she really called him _babe_?

Sure, she called him Blondie from time to time, and on more than one occasion she had jokingly referred to him as "_sexy_", "_cutie_", or even "_Rossypoo_" (though he did _not_ want to talk about that last one). But _babe?_ That just seemed so… unLaura to him. Not at all like the girl who couldn't go a single day without eating a tube of GoGurt.

"Dude, you okay?" Austin said in a tired voice, sitting up in his bed. "You've been staring at your phone for about five minutes like it just turned into a Decepticon."

Ross numbly turned his iPhone around so Austin could read the text. Austin's surfer blonde eyebrows shot up in surprise, as he let out a long whistle. "That's uh…" he started. "That's something."

Suddenly, a mischievous glint flashed in the corner of his eyes, like realization, and he smiled crookedly. "Yep." Austin nodded definitively. "That _is_ something, alright."

Ross narrowed his eyes at his doppelganger, angling his head up in suspicion as he always did when he suspected something was up. "What did you do?" he asked cautiously.

Austin tried and ultimately failed to keep in a burst of manly giggles as he ran that text through his mind over and over again. It had been so genius of him—so dastardly, even Trish would have been impressed.

He fell back on his bed, rolling around clutching his stomach as he laughed. Ross, upon seeing this, scrolled through his sent texts list feverishly, until he found it.

To: Laura

_Miss you, too, L. Wish you were with me. You always make my heart beat in a wicked kind of way ;) _

His phone slipped through his numb fingers and hit the carpeted floor. He was frozen. Mortified. Catatonic. But only for a moment, before he launched himself onto Austin's bed and began to beat him roughly with a pillow.

"_What—the—hell—did—you—do?!_" he yelled fervently in between powerfully plush whacks to Austin's rockstar face. He wasn't sure exactly what his quell was with this predicament—it's not like he had never been out with Laura before. They'd gone to the movies tons of times together, with the rest of R5, and on more than one occasion, they'd spent hours on end in forts in their bedrooms, watching old _Bones_ reruns. In fact, it seemed that their favourite pass time together was just hanging _together_. Even if they weren't physically together, they still called and texted each other nonstop. So what had him so… riled up over this? It was just Laura.

Right?

"_Ah! Dude! What the hell!_" Austin cried, wiggling underneath Ross, trying blindly to free himself.

"_Never—do—that—again!_" Ross fumed, smacking Austin in the face with more and more fury with each passing word.

"_What is your problem!? You got a date with Laura, didn't you?_" Austin practically yelled at Ross, shielding his face for the next blow that never came.

Ross had frozen, the pillow raised above his head, ready to strike Austin once more. Thoughts raced across his eyes at a mindboggling pace. '_Laura… A date with Laura… Laura…_'

Austin smirked as Ross slowly let go of the pillow and release him from his death hold. Had Ross been fully conscious right then, he would have resumed beating Austin—pillow or no pillow—at that smirk. But of course, he was too engrossed in his own Laura-centric thoughts to notice much of anything right then.

* * *

"Will you _stop fidgeting_?" Ally snapped, placing a pale hand on her hip, annoyed. Laura made an equally annoyed sound but nevertheless sat still in the chair, closing her eyes, waiting patiently for Ally to finish applying her make-up.

"This is stupid." Laura deadpanned. "I shouldn't even go."

"Are you kidding me?" Ally scoffed, brushing a faint layer of blush onto her cheeks. "Did we read different texts or what? The boy wants you bad."

"He does _not_." Laura argued, feeling her face heat up slightly.

"Oh, Laura. So cute. So naïve." Ally said in a slightly condescending tone, which struck Laura as odd. She hadn't pinned Ally as the condescending type. But that's just how Ally got when it came to love. Controlling, evil, maniacal, and plotting. "Now sit still. I don't want to poke you in the eye."

* * *

Two minutes to eleven o'clock.

Ross stood outside Sonic Boom, looking around patiently, being careful to keep his Dolphins cap low and his sunglasses on. He hated being in disguise; but then again, he hated being chased by bloodthirsty fans even more. That was one of the reasons he had taken this vacation with Laura in the first place—to get away from everything. To disappear and become like everyone else, just for a week.

He looked down at his iPhone. One minute to eleven o'clock.

Why had he let Austin talk him into this, anyways? It was so stupid. You don't go on dates with your best friends. It's against the laws of the universe.

He leaned back against the stone exterior of the music store, crossing his arms over his chest in a huff.

It was so stupid.

"Ross?" a timid voice asked, making the blonde look up from where his eyes had been transfixed on the pavement. A begrudging smile graced his face as he looked his supposed date up and down. She looked beautiful, obviously—she always did—but right then, she looked especially… dainty. She wore a pretty red sundress that cut off at the knees and fit her… _well_, and a jean jacket overtop that cut off at the elbows. It wasn't the most extravagant thing he'd ever seen her in—she wasn't even wearing heels, just plain black lowtops—but she somehow managed to make it seem like she was dressed for a wedding.

He suddenly looked down at his own out outfit, borrowed from Austin, which consisted of ripped jeans and a yellow-and-white striped t-shirt. He felt underdressed somehow, like she looked better than he ever would.

He blinked his eyes harshly, shooing those thoughts away, and looked back up at her. "Hey," he said breezily, pretending that nothing was going on in his mind that shouldn't have been. Hey, no one ever said that acting was a useless profession.

"Hey," she replied, her voice unusually tight and timid. He paused for a second, confused, before shaking it off and pushing off the wall.

"So… What are we doing today?" she asked, and he flashed a smile. _Be charming_, he told himself. _That's what Austin said to do_. So, holding out his elbow for her to take, he replied, "I have a few ideas."

And they were on their way.

* * *

The date wasn't _bad_. Laura had been on bad dates before, and believe her—this was _far_ from it. It was nice, even. But it just felt… a bit awkward. Like there was an unspoken space between them, a distance that shouldn't have been there on a date. Was it because they were friends? Or because Laura had never intended this date to happen at all?

As they walked down the street towards some place Ross had in mind, her holding onto the crook of his elbow, she couldn't help but think about all this. Was this the date that never should have happened? No, that didn't feel fair to Ross. It was more… the accidental date.

"You're thinking about something." Ross's voice broke through her head, and made her look up to him.

"Pardon?" she asked, scrunching up her eyebrows in confusion.

"I know that look you get—that smile." he told her, pointing to her lips. "You only get it when you really think about something. Like when you play the piano."

"Oh," she said shortly. She could feel a small blush grow on her face. "I do?"

Ross chuckled. "You didn't know?"

"I guess no one ever focused on my face that intently." As the words left her mouth, her voice faltered. She didn't even realize it, and he mustn't have, either, because he looked away, then, and they lapsed into a heavy silence. Her words hung in between them, weighing them down like a wet blanket. She hadn't realized that Ross knew her so well.

They continued to walk down the boulevard, blanketed by the heavy silence, both of them wrapped up in their own individual trains of thought. Hers was a mishmash of things, like; did she really make that face when she thought? Was she making it right now? If so, did he notice it?

His, on the other hand, was something rather like a white buzz of, _you idiot, Ross! You don't say that to a girl! It makes you sound like a creep!_

But, the prevailing thought that sang through both their minds was, _oh God, did it sound like I like you?_

Finally, the silence was too much for Laura. She was just about to burst. In fact, she did burst—verbally, of course. "That text wasn't from me!" she gasped out, the words tumbling out of her mouth like vomit. They stopped in the middle of the walk, and she slapped her hand over her mouth immediately.

"Wh… what?" he asked slowly, giving her a wary look.

"I wasn't the one that sent that text—the one that said I missed you." She said in a quick voice. "I mean, I _did_ miss you—you're one of my best friends, y'know—but not like that. Ally was the one that sent that—I don't know why. She's just kinda evil like th—"

He cut her off mid-ramble, engulfing her in a tight hug, unbelievabley happy.

"Oh," she said in that same small voice as before, shocked by his sudden outburst of emotion.

"No, not like that." He assured her. "I—God, Austin and Ally must be partners in crime or something. Austin was the one that sent my text—his text—our text?—whatever."

"Oh," she repeated, her arms slowly curling around him, returning his embrace warmly. _This_ felt more comfortable to her. _This_ felt more like the Ross and Laura she knew. She smiled to herself. This was them.

They released each other and continued down the boardwalk, suddenly so comfortable around each other. It was like a switch had flicked on between them and made them best friends again. It was a miracle, she thought. Once that little inkling of thought that Ross could like her like that had been removed, she was completely fine around him. Yeah, it was a miracle.

They joked with one another, laughing and smiling, pulling up old inside jokes like her adorkableness, or his tendency to strive to be a hero to any girl he could. It was like the days they were used to, and it was so amazing.

* * *

"So Austin and Ally have played us against one another," Ross mused, rubbing his chin as while later, as they sat across from each other at the food court. "What are we going to do about it?"

"What do you mean?" Laura asked, taking another sip of her Coca-Cola.

"I _mean_, are we really going to let this go so easily? The fact that they duped us both?" he said in a reasoning voice, though this thought was far from any reasoning Laura had ever heard. But it did pique her interest.

"That depends," she said, setting her drink down. "What do you propose we do about it?"

An evil glint flashed in his eyes as he leaned forward over the table, and began explaining his idea.

* * *

She fussed her hair nervously, anxiously. She straightened her shirt and pulled down her skirt a fraction.

"Will you stop playing?" Ross snapped, slapping her hands away from herself. "And remember the plan. Just focus. You can do this—you've done it a thousand times before."

"Right," she nodded, taking a deep breath. Turning towards the door of Sonic Boom, she gave Ross one last nervous smile before walking into the store. Perhaps her nerves helped in what she was trying to do. Nervousness was one of Ally's most visible traits.

Moving with that unnerving silence that Ally had, Laura walked towards the counter and leaned on it, smiling at Austin on the other side. He turned to her and smiled.

"Hey, Ally," he greeted. Her heart skipped a beat at this; he was buying it—at least, for now, he was.

"Hey," she replied. He handed a customer their bag and waved them out the door before leaning against the counter in front of her.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Oh, not much." She shrugged. "I was just… thinking." She looked away shyly. Austin chuckled.

"You do that a lot." He teased. She looked back at him, a worried expression on her face.

"Is that a bad thing?" she asked, making a tiny bit of hurt drip into her voice.

"No, no, of course not." Austin rushed, choosing out his next words carefully. "Thinking's great—thinking's awesome. And you do it a lot, so therefore you are awesome."

"Thanks," she said, ducking her head, letting her hair fall into her face.

"Any time." He said, reaching over the counter, as if to push some of her hair out of her face, but pulled his hand back a second later, deciding against it. Again, she looked up at him with those big brown eyes that seemed to go on forever. He felt his heart pump a little faster in his chest as those heartbreaking eyes locked on his.

He gave a shaky laugh.

"So what have you got going on around here?" she asked, breaking eye contact and moving around the counter to stand beside him. She made sure she stood a little closer than necessary. Just for extra measure.

He cleared his throat, looking around the empty store. "Not a lot. The afternoon rush is gone now, so I don't know, I may close up early, if that's okay with you."

"Yeah, sure," she nodded. "Then we can spend the rest of the day working on that new song."

"You've got a new song?" he asked, giving her a sideways look. She froze.

"Yeah," she said slowly, thinking on her feet. This was what all those years of painstaking acting school had been for. "I didn't tell you about it?" he shook his head. "Oh, I thought I had. I must be going crazy, then."

Austin chuckled again, a low chuckle, completely unlike Ross's, Laura noted. Ross's was louder, more buoyant, while Austin's was lower, more intimate. The thought made her blush.

"Nah, you're not crazy." He waved her off. "I probably wasn't listening."

"Wow, thanks." She said flatly. "I'm glad to know I'm so riveting."

"Well," he said, "to be fair, it _is_ kind of hard to concentrate when you look so beautiful."

_How does Ally think they're just friends?_ Laura wondered, a little dumbfounded by his obvious flirtation.

"You're forgiven." She said, leaning her head against his shoulder. He threw his arm around her shoulder and hugged her to him.

They both seemed to become acutely aware of how close they were at the same time: to Austin, it was an embarrassing slip-up he'd never intended to happen, and to Laura, it was just another right turn in hers and Ross's plan.

She turned a little in his grip so she faced him and wrapped her thin arms around his middle. Then, she pivoted a little on her feet, so that she was against the corner of the counter, the cash register poking into her back, with Austin in front of her.

Some small part of her told her that what she was doing wasn't good—it wasn't right. But Austin and Ally had messed with her friendship with Ross, and that was something that was not allowed to be touched.

Ever.

Austin looked down at her, a head taller than her, and smiled curiously. "What are you up to?"

She gave him an innocent smile, with just a slight undertone of mischief. "Absolutely nothing."

She chuckled again, and reached to push some of her hair behind her ear, arm slipped down her to rest easily on her waist. "Really?" he mused.

"Really, really." She confirmed, letting her smile grow into a grin. She saw the shift in his eyes, and knew she'd succeeded.

He leaned down a fraction, and another, slowly inching closer to her face, a new, clear expression on his face. She knew that face. She'd worn that face that time she had to act out a stage kiss. She froze in her sandals, matching those Ally might wear.

_Oh_.

Rest assured, this was _not_ part of the plan.

Neither was the part when his lips brushed against hers, just lightly, like a small memory, before pulling away.

And neither was the part about her pushing up to her tip toes to kiss him again.

"_Laura!?_" Ross's furious voice boomed from the door of Sonic Boom. It was a voice that didn't sound like acting.

Laura knew that voice.

And she knew that she was officially in deep shit, for lack of better words.

* * *

**Please don't hate me for leaving this so long. But I had the first half of this chapter just collecting dust (figuratively) on my computer, so while I waited for my friend to finish proof-reading something, I thought I'd give this a shot. So... yep. Review! :D **

**-KR Blake**


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